Minnesota lawmakers are wrestling with how to sustain the state’s financially distressed hospitals while patients confront growing medical debt. One Minnesota lawmaker wants to steer money from an existing healthcare tax back to hospitals so they can expand their charity care programs for patients who can’t afford their bills. The proposal follows a Minnesota Star…
The FDA’s recent decision to withhold approval of a new skin cancer treatment fell like a hammer on doctors who treat melanoma and patients who saw that the drug had prolonged the lives of a third of the participants in a clinical trial. “It was devastating news,” said Trisha Wise-Draper, a dermatologist at the University…
That is the title of my column for my latest column forThe Evidence Base. In this latest edition of Perspectives from the Healthcare Economist, Jason Shafrin (FTI Consulting and Mann School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California) examines how AI is beginning to reshape health economics and outcomes research (HEOR), from evidence generation and literature reviews to…
Following a recent outbreak of the deadly hantavirus on the cruise ship MV Hondius, KFF Health News editor-at-large and infectious disease doctor Céline Gounder spoke to numerous media outlets about the risks from the disease. Here are some highlights from Gounder on the evolving story. WHO: Hantavirus Outbreak Risk to Public Is ‘Absolutely Low’ Gounder…
GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — In a midwife’s suburban Atlanta home with a playground and chicken coop outside, Madie Collins lay on an examination table while the midwife measured her pregnant belly. Unlike at many a doctor’s office, no crinkly paper sheet covered the table and no antiseptic chill lingered in the air. The room next…
Several states have joined President Donald Trump’s deportation efforts and are taking federal reporting requirements to immigration authorities a step further — by using their public health agencies as arms of enforcement. North Carolina, in late April, became the latest member of a growing group of Republican-led states to require their public health agencies to…
Excited to be attending ISPOR 2026 next week. I’m looking for some great plenary sessions, presenting my research on “The Extent of Treatment Response and Preference Heterogeneity in Major Depressive Disorder: Implications for Population-Level Resource Allocation” with co-authors Nadine Zawadzki and Cheryl Neslusan, and meeting up with old colleagues. See you in Philadelphia!
TOLEDO, Ohio — The little boy, dressed in a Toy Story sweatshirt, wrapped himself around the nation’s health secretary. “What do you guys want to be when you grow up?” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asked a carpet full of preschoolers. “A dinosaur!” the boy replied, squeezing tighter. Just weeks ago,…
Paul Boyer, a psychotherapist for Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, California, is experiencing the AI revolution firsthand. He’s a little underwhelmed. The health giant has rolled out a new suite of note-taking software, made by healthcare AI pioneer Abridge, intended to summarize a patient’s visit at supersonic speed. For many clinicians, the technology soothes one of…
That is the question Luis Garicano asks in his recent post. He relies on projections from the 2025 IMF World Economic Outlook. On the positive side, Eastern European countries’ economies are likely to converge with the US. While we have spent a decade complaining about Europe’s stagnation, a real positive convergence story has been unfolding…